Why Wildwood Bombed At The Box Office

Perhaps director Travis Knight and writer Chris Butler's "Wildwood" was always fated to be a risky enterprise, financially speaking. As a stop-motion PG-13 fantasy film that's based on the "Wildwood" fantasy novel by writer Colin Meloy and illustrator Carson Ellis, it doesn't exactly radiate automatic blockbuster energy — and watching Looper's video above will let you know precisely why the film is struggling at the box office.  

"Wildwood" arrived in theaters on October 23, 2026, and its early box office performance hasn't shown a lot of promise so far. With a domestic opening weekend haul of $11 million and a further $3 million brought in at the international box office, the movie opened to just $14 million, which honestly isn't great for a project with a budget that hovers around $100 million. It will be interesting to see whether the film proves enduring enough to find greater success in the long term. 

Don't take box office success or its lack thereof to mean that "Wildwood" isn't worth watching, though. The movie is absolutely stunning from beginning to end, and it's not just eye candy, either. Looper's review of "Wildwood" noted that stop-motion animation has never looked more beautiful. With a 99% Tomatometer score and 97% audience Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes, it's clear that we're dealing with a truly great movie — the kind that might do very well during awards season. 

Indeed, one of the best Laika Studios movies already has some Oscar buzz behind it. In other words, this is the kind of film that will likely end up on lists of best animated movies of all time before long. This kind of word of mouth might very well establish the movie's reputation in the long term, forging another magnificent cult classic, but is it enough to save its theatrical run? Watch Looper's video above to get a sense of all the things that might impact the box office success of "Wildwood."